Disputed Guardianship and Wills Case Studies

The issue of estate planning and Family Law are closely connected and it is imperative that people receive advice regarding their rights and obligations to their spouses before writing out their will (entering into succession planning arrangements). There is a risk that certain transactions may be overturned in court if it can be proved they were designed to defeat an existing or anticipated order in Family Law proceedings.
Case Study: Tabussi (As Executor of the Estate of the late Mr Tabussi Senior (Deceased) & Ors [2015] FCWA 108 (8...

A Guardianship case in the Supreme Court last October found that a financial manager could be replaced for reasons other than incompetence or impropriety if it was in the best interests of the protected person.
In M v M [2013] 1495, the Supreme Court decision saw the NSW Trustee being replaced as financial manager by the sister of the protected person’s family.
Another case in 1993 (Holt v the Protective Commissioner) found that a financial manager can be replaced due to incompetence or impropriety. It also indicated that the...

In a very interesting case before the Supreme Court of NSW on 13 September 2013, His Honour Justice White considered an application to “suspend” the decision-making powers of a Guardian appointed under a Deed of Enduring Guardianship.
The case concerned an application for an injunction made initially without the presence of the other party by the estranged husband of the subject person. Both the husband (plaintiff) and the wife were quite elderly. The husband sought to prevent (injunct) the guardian (a friend of the...

After 30 years of marriage what would you expect from your husband's estate? When your husband has a $15 million estate probably quite a bit.
In this fascinating case a widow turned to the courts for help in receiving a greater share of the estate. The case was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday 29 November 2010. This followed a decision of Associate Justice Macready on 25 November 2010 in determining a Family Provisions claim by the Wife against her late Husband's Estate. (Hoolahan v Scali [2010] NSWSC 1349) It is helpful to...